US victory most-viewed match this year but down from 2015

Members of the United States women’s soccer team, winners of a fourth Women’s World Cup, pose with the trophy by their plane after arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport, Monday, July 8, 2019, in Newark, N.J. Julie Ertz holds the trophy, Megan Rapinoe, front right, gestures, and Alex Morgan, back left, also gestures. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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The United States’ 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in Sunday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup final averaged nearly 15.6 million U.S. viewers on English- and Spanish-language television.

It was the most-viewed match this season, but a decrease from the 2015 final.

The match averaged 14.27 million viewers on Fox, according to the network and Nielsen, and peaked at 19.6 million. It was a 22 percent increase over last year’s FIFA World Cup men’s final between France and Croatia, which averaged 11.44 million.

The audience was down 43.8 percent from the 2015 final between the U.S. and Japan, which averaged 25.4 million viewers. That match though was played in Canada and started at 7 p.m. Eastern, compared to Sunday’s in France, which kicked off at 11 a.m. Eastern.

The Telemundo broadcast averaged 1.3 million and peaked at 2 million as the match concluded.

The match averaged 589,000 viewers online — 289,000 on Fox apps and 300,000 on NBC and Telemundo apps — which makes it the most-streamed Women’s World Cup match ever.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup final between the U.S. and Mexico averaged 2.9 million on Fox Sports 1, making it the most-viewed non-World Cup match in the network’s five-year history.

The Copa America final between Brazil and Peru averaged 3.1 viewers on Telemundo. The ESPN-plus streaming service had the English-language rights but the network did not divulge figures.

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